Classified
by Duochanfan
Summary: James and Q have to work together to bring down a threat to MI6. Silvia was just the beginning. Now they have to end it. Part of the 00q Reverse Big Bang 2016/2017
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own James Bond, just having some fun while I can.**

 **This is part of the 00Q Reverse Big Bang. There is a piece of wonderful artwork that is for this fic and that can be found at**

beardedwitchpenguin . tumblr / post/156090155301/classified-my-art-for-the-00qreversebang-story  
Just take out the spaces

 **Thanks go to the brilliant Opal and Castillion2 who Beta'ed this monster. There will be 20 chapters in total, and they will all be posted by 28th January. Expect at least 2 chapters a day, maybe three on occasions.**

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Chapter One

Q watched as the van left with the body of M within it. He sighed a little turning to see Tanner give him a nod and leave as well. The only two people left now was himself and James Bond. Q walked a little towards him, watching and observing as he did so. James was distraught, grieving for a woman he had just seen die in front of him, in his arms. To those around them, James appeared stoic, but Q could see the few subtle signs, the bloodshot eyes, the almost hungover look that he was sporting in that moment. Q closed his eyes; there was nothing that he could do at this moment in time to truly ease that.

"Bond," Q called out to James when he was only a few steps behind him.

James didn't turn as he answered, "Please just leave, Q."

Q winced but nodded. "Of course, but don't remain here too long. Mallory will be waiting for the both of us soon enough," he said turning around and began to head out.

"Q." Tanner stopped him as he exited the church.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Head there now, I'll cover for you." He turned and began to make some calls.

Q nodded in understanding. He walked towards the car that had brought him here and took out the keys. It wouldn't be hard to get there; it was a simple drive, just a long one. He knew that he could trust the people he had around, but he still felt slightly on edge. The plan was underway; he could only hope it would work. He turned on the radio, and let the Classical tones of Beethoven wash over him, keeping himself distracted.

It was three hours later when he finally arrived. Q got out of the parked car, headed towards the small cottage, and unlocked the door. It was quiet inside, but that was to be expected. He glanced around and nodded to Archie, who had been waiting for him to arrive.

"Alex," Archie said walking over. The man was loyal to him and his mother, having helped them when his father had died. Archie had been a good friend to his father, and his mother when he was young, and still remained so. "She is resting comfortable at the moment; her injuries were treated. They are serious, and I would recommend that she be in a hospital."

Q shook his head. "You know that is impossible, Archie," he reprimanded slightly. "There is too much at stake for that to happen. We need to make sure that no one knows she is still alive."

"I know Alex, but..." Archie shook his head, "She will recover; the poison that was used to simulate death worked well and the suit she was wearing underneath was able to stem the bleeding until we got her here. It was able to tighten itself on the wound. The poison we used also helped in slowing the heart down, which slowed the blood loss. Without it, I think we might have lost her."

"That's good." He sighed, relieved.

"I believe she might be awake. She is… a tough woman and a strong one. You should know that. You've seen if over and over when she was an Agent." He smiled, his dark blue eyes looking at the younger man as he brushed greying brown hair out of them. He could remember the young man before him being a teenager and watching over him for Clara when she had been an agent. She'd trusted no one else other than Bill Tanner with knowing about Alex.

"I know." Q smiled back, walking towards the bedroom where Archie had indicated that the woman lay.

Archie walked towards the door on the left, leaving Q alone. Q knocked on the door and waited for a few moments before it opened and a tall young man answered it. "You may leave," Q said, moving past him and into the room. There were a number of machines helping the woman that lay on the bed.

"Good to see you here, Alex," came the weakened voice from the bed.

"Mother," he said walking over to the bed and sat in the chair that was beside it.

"Did everything go as planned?" she asked him, quickly leaning forwards and helped her sit up before she hurt herself further.

"Yes. Bond believes you to be dead, and the body switch went as planned. The van should have crashed and burned with only the driver getting out by now," he informed her glancing at his watch. "Some half hour ago, I believe."

"So everything went well then." She nodded, more to herself than him, wincing as she pulled something.

"Yes," he repeated. "Tanner should be here soon; he was making sure the switch went all right and that the body crash happened as planned. I…" he began but cut himself off getting up and walked over to the window and began to stare out of it.

"Alex." Her voice was gentle, coaxing; it wasn't often that it sounded as such. "What is it?"

"I just don't know if I am all right with Bond believing you to be dead. He… he reacted quite strongly. I don't like the look he had when I saw him in the church after you were taken away," he answered her slowly.

M, or rather the former M, always mother to him and to others, Clara, smiled. "I think of him as I do you at times, a little more rebellious than you perhaps. But we were close. Things happened before you came to work for MI6 with me. They are not for me to tell you; ask him when he feels like he can open up. But I helped a little," she told him gently.

"Why can't we tell him that you aren't really dead though? He is a good actor, I know he can do quite well with that; hell you've seen that yourself," he pointed out.

"While James can act with the best of them, why bother when we need to make sure that it will be genuine? It'll be best to wait for a little while before we tell him," she told him. Someone knocked at the bedroom door.

"Come in," Q called out turning to look at the door, he pulled his gun from its holster and subtly pointed it towards the door. Precautions were needed.

Tanner walked into the room and stood there for a moment while he watched Q relax the grip on the gun and put it away again. "I hope your target practice with that is going well?" he asked walking into the room fully and closed the door behind him.

"It's fine. I shoot guns all the time as you well know. I do have to test out the things I design before I put them out there for the double-ohs, Tanner," he shot back with a scowl.

Tanner laughed walking over to the bed and sat down in another of the chairs. "How are you feeling, Clara?" he asked her. They had become good friends over the years that they had worked together at MI6, and he was one of the few who had been trusted with what was going on.

"Like I was stabbed several times." She rolled her eyes. "How are things?"

"Good. Mallory believes the body to be yours and that you are dead. Bond has disappeared, but we know he will be back soon enough," he informed her, sighing softly as he thought of Bond.

"I think we should tell Bond as soon as he resurfaces," Q said.

Tanner nodded. "Not as soon as we see him. I think after the funeral would be the better time. And then we can bring him in fully, and tell him what is going on. He will be able to help us."

"Very well, but that is still at least a week away." Q sighed leaning back in his chair.

"Have you been able to learn anything more since my supposed death?" Clara asked Tanner.

Tanner nodded again. "A few things."

"Like what?" Q asked him, glancing from his mother to Tanner

"James is loyal. To you, not to MI6. He went against MI6 to help you on this; he was ordered to take you to a safe house. Instead, he took you to Skyfall. And I still can't figure out if Mallory is truly in this or just an innocent victim," Tanner sighed in frustration.

"What about Moneypenny?" Q asked.

"She is with them," he answered quickly.

Q frowned a little at that asking, "You sure?"

Tanner nodded. "Someone is still working at bringing MI6 down, and they have someone on the inside. I know Moneypenny is part of it; I've seen a few things that she has helped them with. When Bond was shot on the train, she could have made the shot, but she was to take Bond out. They know that he is loyal to Clara and not to MI6."

"So we have some higher ups, but we don't know which ones." Q huffed. "May even be all of them. So we are doing this alone? No one else is to be brought in except James Bond? I know that we can't really trust anyone in MI6 as we don't know how deep their network goes. So far I am only sure about Bond's loyalty." He glanced from one to the other.

"Yes, I need to recover a little more before I can do anything to help. For now, you two are on your own until you bring in Bond. Then we will really be in the best place to bring them down," Clara said from her bed.

Q could see that she was tiring. "Mother, you should sleep and rest while you can."

"He is right," Tanner agreed. "Come on, Q, let's go."

"Tanner, take care of him," Clara said. Q helped her settled back into the bed.

"I am not a child anymore, Mother." Q glared at her, almost nose to nose leaning over her.

"You will always be a child to me, someone precious to be protected." She raised a hand and ran it over his face. "As head strong as your father. Always ending up in trouble one way or another."

"You know I will. But he is right, he knows how to take care of himself." Tanner smiled to her heading to the door, standing next to it, waiting for Q to join him.

"Rest well, Mother." Q kissed her forehead.

"A mother is supposed to do that to her child, Alex, not the other way around," she told him, a relaxed smile on her face. It was the first time he had seen such a smile since he was a child and his father was still alive. She didn't have to be the stern and cold leader of MI6, at the moment she was a mother resting after getting hurt.

"Doesn't mean that I can't," he told her.

She chuckled a little, wincing when the stitches were pulled. "Off with you, and be careful. You can't trust anyone but Tanner and Bond. Be safe, Alex."

"I will." He nodded in agreement walking to the door and followed Tanner out of the room.

The two came to a stop a little away from the door. They looked around and saw that there was no one else in the corridor with them. "We need to head back to MI6; Mallory and the others will be expecting us soon enough. I'll be arriving a little after you, since I'm going to come from where the crash happened. I know you have put everything into flux, making it appear that there are random blackouts from the CCTV cameras. And then them rebooting. So we should be able to get back without too much notice," Tanner said.

"We will. I have everything controlled, even set up a traffic jam, so that I will be able to claim that as my excuse for getting back later than anticipated." Q smirked a little. The two began to walk towards the front door once again.

"Sir?" Archie called out as he entered the entrance hallway.

"Archie," Q said looking to the older man. "Please take good care of her. Make sure no one comes in but myself or Tanner. If someone does, shoot to kill. Don't wait around, just do it, understood?"

Archie paled at that, but it was one of the things that he had been told before he decides to help, "Yes, Sir." He nodded, straightening up. "I will."

"Good," Tanner intoned, neither of them liked that option, but it was the only one they had. Too much was at stake if they failed in this mission.

"Everything will be delivered to the shed near the back of the property. Get it from there." Q turned to the door and opened it.

"Yes Sir, and be careful. I don't want to have to tell her that something has happened to you." Archie nodded.

Q nodded back, and without another word, he walked to his car and opened it up. He shivered a little sitting there, it was somewhat cold at that moment. He sighed; this mission was going to be a long and draining one, he just knew it as he started the car and slowly began to head down the drive and towards the main road once more. In his rearview mirror, he could see Tanner's car as well, as it began to follow him. He looked back to the road and headed back intothe Lion's den that was MI6 at the moment.

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 **Thank you all for reading, and I do hope that you have enjoyed the first chapter of twenty.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own James Bond, just having a bit of fun while I can.**

 **Thanks go to the wonderful** _ **Opal, Castillon02, Pigfarts23,**_ **who have been going through the monster that is Classified, and they have done an awesome job!**

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Chapter Two

Q stood near the back of the room. Tanner gave the eulogy for his mother, as he was his mother's closest friend. This was not only a funeral for those who knew her in her personal life, but also for those from work. Though there were a lot more work colleagues than he had thought would attend, Q was thankful that there was no family for him to speak of, just friends his mother had had throughout her life. He had already talked to a few of them who knew of him, taking care to ensure his identity was kept secret. Most understood that his mother had enemies who would go after him if it was known he existed.

Q had hoped that when his mother truly died, he would be the one standing at the front, but that was a dream. His mother would never allow it, even in death. She had too many enemies. At this moment in time, no one knew that Clara, or M as she had been known for most of her life, was his mother. Q almost sighed when he looked around and didn't see James Bond anywhere in the room. He'd had a feeling that the agent wouldn't turn up. James was truly grieving over Clara. Q hoped he would be able to talk to James as soon as the service was over.

It was almost three hours later when things finally came to a close, and because he was the new Quartermaster at MI6, it wasn't expected that he participate in the wake with the other higher ups and some of the Agents she was close to, as he wouldn't have known her that well. He walked away, glad that he could do so. Q got into his car and headed back to MI6; the old building was only just standing, but parts of it were still in use. The departments that were left behind were slowly being moved elsewhere, and the building would be torn down within the next year to be built anew. There was too much structural damage from the explosion to repair it.

Q climbed the stairs to the roof, having heard some of the workers talking about Bond being up there. He walked through the door and stopped when he heard voices. Looking around, he went to the small building that held the door to the stairwell, hiding just out of sight to the two on the roof. He could just about hear what Bond and Moneypenny were talking about. He almost sighed in relief, realizing that his mother's bulldog ornament was being given to James. He knew that she wanted him to have it to remind him that she had often thought of him as a son.

Q watched from his hiding place as Moneypenny left James alone to look out at the city below them. He straightened up and began to walk over. "Bond," he called out.

"Q," James greeted, giving him a glance before looking back out at the cityscape.

"M had some last orders," he told James as soon standing next to him.

James looked at him, a frown on his face. "And why would you have those?" he questioned.

Q gave a small smile, "Because she knew that I would follow them, just as you should."

James snorted. "I don't know about that. You are still new."

"I may be new to MI6, but not to the games she played," Q said, cryptically. His mother had, after all, trained him to make sure he would be a good agent if necessary, but he had found a love of other things and she had let him dabble and become part of Q-Branch instead.

"And what is this mysterious last order?" James asked, turning to fully face the younger man.

"She wanted you to come with me to a place outside of the city," Q answered, not backing down from the look that James was giving him.

James' eyes narrowed. "And why would I do that?"

Q smiled. "Because you know that I will do what she asked of me, and that I cared about her as well and wanted her safe," he replied softly.

James gave a small nod. He had gathered that much from the young quartermaster when they had worked together to try and save M. He was coming to trust the young man, which was hard for him to do. But he was already looking forward to working with him on other missions. "And what else did she want me to do?" he asked.

"Just come with me to the place she wanted you to go." Q began to walk to the stairs, hoping it would get the man to start moving. "Do not ask again until we're at our destination," he said, sternly.

James frowned, puzzling over those words. Why would it be unsafe for anything to be said in the almost derelict MI6? It didn't make sense. He put it away to ask later, following Q down the stairs, out of the building, and towards a car that was parked a little further down the road. Q got in and waited for James to do the same. James hesitated for a moment before he saw the look on Q's face. It was serious - for a moment, it reminded him of M - and his eyes darted to the box in his hand that contained the bulldog that had been left to him. He climbed in, and Q started the car up and headed away from the city as fast as he could.

"So, are you going to tell me anything more about where we are going or what we are doing?" James asked, weary, though there was some of him that trusted the man beside him.

Q spared him a glance as they stopped for a red light, before looking back to the road when it turned green. "I think it would be best if we wait until we reach our destination. Everything will be explained there, so please wait. I know that you wish to know now, but…" he trailed off. "Trust me, like you trusted her."

"It would be better there, I suppose." James sighed, leaning back in the car seat, and watched the scenery go by. It changed from city to countryside after a while. The green was pleasant to look at, but he couldn't help but let his mind wander to what Q wanted, and what M had wanted him to know. He looked to his lap and the box that held the bulldog within it. Trust him, like he had trusted her. He glanced from the box towards Q. He observed him for a while, seeing the same determination that he had often seen on M, and wondered what the connection was between the two, and why she would have trusted Q.

"We're here," Q said after another half hour of driving in silence. They had pulled up to a small cottage that was almost hidden by all the shrubbery that blocked it from being seen on the main road.

James got out and looked around. He could see that there must be others here, as there were a couple more cars in the large driveway. He glanced over to Q and was about to ask something when Q shook his head and led the way to the door. Q pulled out a key and unlocked it. A gun was already aimed at the two of them they opened the door.

"Archie." Q nodded to him, pleased to see him take his instructions seriously.

"Alex." He nodded back. Archie glanced to James, and his eyes went wide. He hadn't really been around the double ohs that much while working in MI6.

"We'll be going in to see her," Q told Archie, motioning for James to follow him. Just as they reached the bedroom door, Q stopped. "James," he said, his voice soft and hesitant, "I know what's on the other side might, or rather will, hurt you. But there is a bloody good reason."

James raised an eyebrow at that. He was starting to get annoyed with all the secrecy, and it was beginning to show in his voice as he asked, "And what am I going to find?"

"I think it would be better to see than to hear," Q said, knocking on the door and beginning to open it. "Just, hear us out before you do anything," he added opening the door and walking inside.

James stood there for a moment before he walked in. He stopped a few feet into the room, looking at the pale woman sitting up on the bed. "M," he whispered, shocked at seeing her.

"Bond," she said, voice softer than the usually stern voice he was used to.  
"What? Why?" he asked her, shaking his head, still not believing what his eyes were showing him.

"You're not the only one that knows how to fake their death." She snorted.

James walked towards the bed slightly, before stopping a few feet away. "I knew that!" he snapped. "I want to know why!"

"Because someone is trying to bring down MI6," M answered.

James walked to one of the chairs and sat down. He was angry and hurt. But there had to be a reason for this deception, and it better be a good one. Q quickly took a seat as James began talking, his voice tightly controlled to keep the anger from seeping into it. "What do you mean? If you mean Silva, then he is dead."

"I know, but he was part of it. They are trying to fully bring down MI6. Exposing everything that we have done in the past and what we are doing now. I was being pushed out, and the things that we worked hard for were beginning to crumble. Silva was just the tip of the iceberg. MI6 is in danger, Bond, and all of its secrets will be exposed if they win. With me gone, they can carry on and believe that they are safer. Because I am classified as dead, I can work from the background and find out more. But we need more than myself, Q, Tanner and a few untrained techs." She snorted at the thought of only three of them alone with nothing but the meagre support of a few untrained techs..

James nodded. He could understand why they had done so, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth and he couldn't help but ask, "Why tell me?"

"Because I know you will do you all you can for this country. We will give you all that we have been able to find out so far," Q answered.

James looked at him, and while he trusted Q, he had to wonder why they had trusted Q with the plan. He had only just trusted him to watch his back, and Q had done so, earning Q some of James' trust. "Why was Q brought into this?" he asked.

"Because I trust my son," M said, with a little grin on her face.

James blinked a few times as the words settled in and then he smirked. "I knew the M didn't just stand for MI6."

M chuckled dryly, wincing as the action pulled on her stitches. "You always did believe that. Always calling me the Mother of MI6." She smiled a little.

"So what is the plan?" James asked the two of them.

Only a trace of the amusement that Q had been feeling moments ago from James' comment was left, and even that was fading fast. "Mother has a few contacts that she made while out in the field. They usually hear of things before MI6 half the time. She was actually trying to bring them all in when they got word of this… movement. So when she is well enough, she is going to start contacting them."

"And how is she going to do that if she is dead?" James asked.

Q rolled his eyes. "I've already created false documents so she can come and go from the UK. We can't afford to have any traceable communications between them. Which means that emails, phone, everything like that is out, until I can make sure everything is secured, which will take a few days, maybe a week. We also need to get in touch with a few of them as soon as possible. But at the moment, we can't; we are all being watched."

James frowned. "All of us?" he asked.

"Yes, all of us. So, I was thinking that we should wait for a mission that will go near the areas that some of them are in. I will arrange it so that you are the one to go. We should then be able to get close enough that you can do your normal disappearing trick and talk with them. There is one we have to talk to ASAP; he is in Switzerland at the moment. He will be leaving for Prague in four weeks. He tends to move around a lot. We have one near here, but all we know is a codename, Dubella. They are trusted, but they worked for Boothroyd; he was one of the first to notice what was going on, along with our outside contacts," Q finished, leaning back in his chair.

"Understood," James said. He could see that they were going to have to do a lot of waiting around for a mission to come in one of those two areas.

"I know that this is going to be hard; we don't really know who all the players are. We know one or two, like Moneypenny," Q informed him.

"Moneypenny?" James blinked. "I don't think so." He had thought he could trust the woman when he had worked with her in Istanbul; it had been a fluke that she had shot him. And when they had met again in Shanghai, after James' return to MI6, he had connected with her, trusted her once more.

"We believe so. She is a sharpshooter. She has been trained to hit targets that are moving a lot faster than you and that man were when you were fighting on the train, and kill only those she needs to. I know she said she didn't have a clean shot, but it's a shot she has taken many times before and never failed. It was the reason she was a candidate for double oh status. She didn't hit her target; she hit you, and if you were anyone else, then you would have died," Q explained.

James sighed and shook his head. "Then we have one traitor; why haven't you done something?" he asked.

"We have no solid proof." Q sighed. "We have to let her carry on as normal; we're hoping that she might be able to lead us to where the others are. Or at least lead us to a couple of them so we have another starting point on where to look." He slumped in his chair a little as he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

James watched him, a small smile on his face; Q looked like a ruffled kitten in that moment. "For now, we just have to wait." He sighed.

"Yes." Q glanced at Clara. "Until Mother is well enough, most of the contacts will be out of our range. So, for now we go back to work and pretend Mother is dead," he said with a grimace.

"Take care, Alex," she said. "I wish to speak with James for a moment."

Q nodded, getting up and leaving the room, and James turned to M asking, "What is it?"

"Make sure he remains safe. I trained him when he was young, I know. But he is still my child and I want to know he will be looked after. So please, watch out for him," she requested. "He is very headstrong at times, and often ends up in trouble."

James observed her for a moment and nodded. In that moment she wasn't M, but a mother worried for her son, who was about to do something that could cost him his life if things went wrong. "I will," he promised, getting up. "Rest."

He walked out of the room and joined Q, who had been waiting by the front door for him. They needed to head back to MI6 before they were missed.

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 **I do hope that you continue to enjoy this fic!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own James Bond, just having some fun while I can.**

 **Sorry for taking so long, I lost a good friend a few weeks ago. And then two weeks ago we had to say goodbye to our dog Benji.**

 **Thanks go to** _ **Opal, Castillon02, Pigfarts23**_ **for their fantastic editing. You guys are amazing!**

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Chapter Three

It had been two, almost three, weeks since James had found out that M was still alive and that MI6 was in danger from an outside source, or maybe even an inside one. The double oh agent had taken M's pleas and changed them to suit him. He had found Q fascinating when he had first met him at the Gallery. But getting to know the smart Quartermaster was becoming less due to M's pleas and more because he enjoyed the time he spent with him.

"Bond," came a caustic voice as James walked into Q-Branch for the second time that day.

"Ah, Q." He grinned, walking over to Q.

Q rolled his eyes and turned to head towards his office. James followed along, almost like a dutiful puppy, which amused Q enough that he hadn't yet complained about the hovering man that day. Q had been tempted to slam the door in his face just to get rid of him a few times in the last three weeks, though. "What brings you to my domain this time around?" he asked, entering his office.

James grinned, closing the door, and suggested, "Well, it's almost lunch time, and I know this wonderful little Greek place where we could go and have something to eat."

Q looked up at him. "Lunch?" He was puzzled. He had heard enough stories about the agent to know that he would never have lunch with a co-worker, no matter what was going on.

"Yes, lunch." James smiled at him. "You know, when two people go and have something nice to eat, and maybe learn a few new things about each other."

Q's eyes narrowed. "That sounds more like a date to me."

James couldn't help the smirk on his face, replying, "Didn't know you thought of me in that way. Though I will gladly take you on a proper date later tonight, if you wish?"

Q spluttered and blushed but didn't say anything to deny the accusations or decline the dinner date. "Bond!" he called out as he regained his senses. He was about to say something when his laptop gave a loud beep. Looking away from James, he began typing on his laptop to see what it was.

"What is it?" James asked curiously after a few moments. He had noticed that Q's whole demeanour had changed within seconds of typing on his laptop, his back straightening and his shoulders tensing. Q's face became still; only his eyes betrayed what he was feeling, and even then it was hard for him to see them.

"A mission has come in. M is asking for my recommendation on who we should send. It's not often they do so; they ask me occasionally when they know that tech might be needed and they need to know who would be best to use it. But usually I can choose someone who will be an asset rather than a hindrance," he replied absently, beginning to read through the mission details.

James sat down on one of the other chairs in the room and watched him. "Okay," he nodded, letting the younger man continue his work until he looked up at him.

"How would you like to go to Switzerland?" he asked. There was something in the warm brown eyes that told James to say yes to the question.

"Been a while since I last went there, so sign me up. When do I have to leave?" James asked, a smile on his face.

"Today. Don't know the time yet, just need to mesh out the details of your departure, and then I'll tell you. You will need to go off grid for a little while and meet up with an old friend of mine. He will there for a while after the mission should end," He answered.

James nodded. "That's fine with me, could do with a little break." He grinned.

"Good." Q smiled back at him, quickly typing something on the laptop.

"Looks like our dinner date will have to wait until I get back." James continued to grin, jumping from his chair to avoid the flying stapler that Q sent his way.

"Bond!" Q exclaimed at him once more, annoyed that the man was getting the better of him. He tried his best to fight the blush that was forming on his face, but knew that it wouldn't be possible. "I will have everything ready for you in two hours," he said, trying to hold onto the last bit of the professional air around him.

James gave a smirk, picking up the stapler and putting it back on the desk. "I'll see you later on then." He winked at at Q as he ducked out of the room.

Q snorted, watching the man leave. "For god's sake," he muttered to himself, banging his head against his desk in frustration. He couldn't help it though, he found the older man attractive, and he had done his best to deny it. But even his mother had known that he'd had a crush on James since the first time he had laid eyes on on the man. And Q knew that she tried her best to avoid the fact that her son was fully grown.

XxXxX

Q stood at the console as he finished talking James through the security system. It had been twelve hours since he had seen James off to Switzerland. It was almost time for him to go silent. He was dreading how people were going to react when James went AWOL. He didn't want to have to deal with Mallory at all, but had a feeling he would be one of the first down to Q-Branch. He wasn't the type to put up with James' disappearing acts.

"Right, James, your flight out leaves in three hours, don't miss it," Q said over the radio, feeling the eyes of Q-Branch on him; they all tended to watch curiously when he was guiding an agent through their mission.

"Why not earlier?" James asked.

"Because it would look a little suspicious if you both left the area so close to the time of the assassination. This way I was able to get you under one of your aliases, instead of having to create two." He rolled his eyes.

"Right," James said softly.

"Bond," Q called out but the line went dead. "Damn it, he's done it again," he growled in frustration, even though it was part of the plan. The agent had done this to him twice since Clara had been 'killed', only three weeks ago..

"What's happened?" R asked him, walking over to the main console and looking over his shoulder.

"Bond has gone off grid again. The trackers that I put on him have all gone dead." He sighed, beginning to turn the trackers off. They had gone dead, meaning that they had been destroyed by James. He would have to have words with James when he returned about destroying tech. "There is no point in leaving the receivers running, he will let us know when he is back," he muttered, glancing at R out of the corner of his eye. He didn't trust her. She had been one of several Q-Branch members that he hadn't asked for when he was allowed to bring in people with talent from other parts of MI6 to restaff Q-Branch. When the explosion had happened, it had started a chain reaction with some of the more explosive tech that were being worked on in Q-Branch at the time. They had lost fifteen from Q-Branch, including Boothroyd and R. Q was the most senior member of Q-Branch left and he had been promoted. His R had come from somewhere else in MI6, though he hadn't been able to find out where from.

"Ah." She nodded with a small smile. "Mallory won't like that," she said.

"Hmm, true," he hummed, sending her back to her work bench, a few feet from his, with a nod of dismissal.

"What won't I like?" came a questioning voice from behind Q.

Q cursed mentally. "Sir," he said, turning to face M. "Bond has gone silent again. He has been feeling the strain since your predecessor died," he added.

Mallory nodded, his eyes going hard. "Make sure to tell him when he comes back that next time, there will be discipline involved. I don't care what he is doing with his time, as long as it is not his usual brand of havoc," he told Q.

"I will, Sir." Q nodded.

Mallory contemplated him for a moment. "Good. I know he does this often, but it is about time that he stopped. Going off grid is only needed when agents' lives are in danger if they remain on the mission plan," he said with a heavy sigh.

"I know, Sir. I've heard that Bond has been doing this for a while to make sure that he..." Q trailed off, not knowing what he should actually say to ease things for James.

"Don't cover for him, Q," Mallory reprimanded.

"I'm not, Sir. I'm trying to understand him," Q shot back, straightening up.

Mallory laughed. "Understand? What is there to understand about James Bond?"

"That is what I am trying to find out, Sir," Q said, turning back to the console, finishing the shutdown of all the programs that he had used for James' mission: the maps, CCTV and satellite pictures. .

"Very well, you try and do that, and when you find out, make sure to tell me as well," Mallory told him, turning, and began to leave Q-Branch.

Q almost sagged in relief when he was gone. He finished shutting the last few maps down and turned to face R. "I'm going to my office, tell me if Bond comes back online," he told her, walking towards his office and closing the door behind him. Closing the blinds, he made sure that no one would be able to watch him before settling down at his other laptop and booting it up.

Q began to do a little of his work, hoping that he could get something done while he waited for James to come back online. He was a little worried about his friend. Q stopped what he was doing and stared at his laptop screen. "Is that even the right word for him?" he mumbled to himself.

Q shook himself and went back to his laptop. He lost track of time, furiously trying to work out the code he was making to help protect MI6 not just from the outside but from the inside as well, in case there was a mole.

There was a knock at the door, and he glanced up, pulling up another file to work on; he didn't want anyone to know what he was working on. He called out, "Come in." He waited a moment as the door opened and someone walked in.

"Hey, Q," came the unprofessional greeting as Tanner walked into the room.

"Tanner." Q smiled. "What brings you down to the bowels of MI6?" he joked.

"Just seeing how things are going." Tanner smiled back, making sure he shut the door behind him. "007 about done?" he asked quietly, walking over to stand behind the desk and look at what Q was working on. Not that he could tell what it was from the lines of code on the screen.

Q nodded. "Yeah, he should be done by now," he said. "His plane leaves in another hour and a half." He sighed. "I'm keeping an eye out for him to be added to the list of passengers for his flight, but he hasn't checked in yet."

Tanner smiled, since he could see the worry the other had for James Bond, of all people. "Don't you worry about him. He knows how to take care of himself should something happen." He placed a reassuring hand on the young man's shoulder.

"I know, but it still makes me wonder if there is something more that I can do." He glanced back to Tanner for a second before looking back to his laptop and beginning to type.

Tanner chuckled. "How about a tea to ease those nerves of yours?"

"Tea, ah the nectar of the gods," Q joked, nodding his head, picking up his favourite mug, and handing it over. "I would love one, I have it the same as my mother."

"I know: dash of milk, one sugar." Tanner chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Unless it's the first cup of the day and then it's two sugars." He laughed. Like mother, like son with these two.

Q watched him go and looked at the boarding list once more, to see if James had checked in. He hadn't, but that didn't mean that something had gone wrong. He sat there for a while, waiting and worrying until the door opened once more. He was glad that it was only Tanner coming back with tea for the two of them; he wanted a few moments without having to pretend that all was right in the world, or, rather, that all was right in MI6.

"Thank you." Q smiled at him, taking hold of the mug and sipped at the hot liquid. "Perfect."

"It should be with how many times I made a cuppa for your mother." He grinned.

Q nodded and was about to say something when there was a little beep from his laptop. He glanced down and sighed in relief. "James has checked in," he said.

"Good. Now stop worrying and get a little work done," Tanner mock-ordered.

"Yes, Sir," he laughed, both of them aware that Tanner was actually his subordinate. Lookingto his screen, Q began to concentrate on his work once more. Tanner finished his tea before leaving the man alone. Q worked feverishly, wondering what James had been able to find out. That would have to wait until he had returned and they were with his mother again.

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 **Thank you for the reviews, and I do hope that you have enjoyed this chapter as well.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own James Bond, just having some fun while I can.**

 **Sorry for taking so long, I lost a good friend a few weeks ago. And then two weeks ago we had to say goodbye to our dog Benji.**

 **Thanks go to** _ **Opal, Castillon02, Pigfarts23**_ **for their fantastic editing. You guys are amazing!**

Chapter Four

Q walked towards his office. James was back and being debriefed by Mallory. Q still refused to call him M in his head, or at any other time. M was his mother's name at work, and that was all there was to it. Hopefully when this was all over, she would be able to come back to work at MI6, but until then, he would have to deal with Mallory being around and having to call him M, though he had only had to do that a few times in the last few weeks.

"Are we going to talk here?" Tanner asked quietly as soon as Q stepped into his office. He had been waiting for Q to return for a few minutes, as Mallory hadn't wanted him there for James' debriefing.

Q shook his head. "No, I don't think that would be a good idea. I think we need to go and see Mother," he answered honestly.

"Yes, I don't think this place is as safe as it could be," Tanner murmured, looking around, wondering what type of bugs could be listening to them, paling slightly at the thought.

Q nodded. "I've made sure that no one can listen in this office. But as for the rest of MI6, well, that could be a dangerous."

They waited for a while; James would have to come down to Q-Branch to hand back his weapon and other equipment. Q just hoped that they would all be returned in good condition. Q looked up from his computer screen upon hearing the knock at the door. He checked the footage from outside the room to check who was there.

"Bond?" Tanner questioned.

"Yes." He called out, "Come in, Bond," and smiled as James walked in. Q couldn't see a thing wrong with him and was relieved with that.

"Reporting back." James smiled, pulling out the tech he had been given. There was only minor cosmetic damage; for the first time since he had come back to MI6, there was nothing that wasn't beyond repair.

"I see that you have returned them, mostly in working order." Q grinned, starting to catalogue and put them all away.

"Just a few." James grinned back, hearing a cough from behind him.

"Welcome back," Tanner said with a smile to him.

James nodded to him and then a smirk appeared on his face. "Now, about that date?" he asked, leaning towards Q.

Q looked up and stammered, "W-wh-what?" He blinked rapidly, unsure if he had heard James correctly.

"I did say that we would have to put the date plans on hold while I was on mission." He smirked.

"Bond!" Q yelled at him, tempted to throw something at the agent once more.

"You can leave the planning until later, James," Tanner said with a shake of his head, an amused glint in his eye. The older man was making plans to tell Clara what was going on with her son and James Bond.

"Spoil my fun." James rolled his eyes looking towards Tanner. "You want to know what I found out?"

"Yes, we do," Tanner began.

"Not here though," Q took over. "While I have made sure that this room is safe, I would rather wait and talk later when we are at a better location." He stood up and walked towards the cabinet where all the agents' weapons were kept and put James' equipment away. "I still have a little work to do before I can clock off for the day. The two of you should head to the cottage before me. And I'll meet you there."

"Are you sure? I don't mind waiting around. We can go together," James said.

Tanner smirked. "I'll go on ahead. My work is all done, and my day ended almost half an hour ago. I just decided to wait around until you got back, Bond." He walked towards the door, giving them a wave, adding, "Good to see you back safe."

"Thanks," James said, before looking towards Q, smirking. "So, how about you finish, we have something to eat and then we meet the Mother," he suggested, a glint in his eyes.

Q couldn't help the little shiver that travelled up his spine. "Another time, James, we really should talk with Tanner and my mother about what you have been able to learn," he hissed out, finishing reorganising the cabinet to make sure there was room for James' equipment.

James chuckled, watching him. He knew he was getting to the younger man. He hoped that he would be able to have that date with him in the end. "So, how long are you going to take?" he asked, walking to the sofa and sitting down.

"Shouldn't be too long," Q answered, going back to his desk. "I just have a few things to do with some files I've received and then I can go," he explained, getting to work.

James relaxed back, watching Q. The man in question was working in earnest, typing away faster than he had seen anyone do so before. James smiled and chuckled lightly, low enough that it didn't disturb Q; the young man's tongue was slightly poking out of his lips. It was adorable to James.

"Done," Q said, stretching a little, and started to close things down for the night. James got up and the two of them walked out of the office.

James followed Q as he went over to R.

"Sir," R said as James and Q stopped before her.

"I am leaving now, make sure that the firewall update is finished," Q ordered.

"Yes sir," she stated. "It should be done by mid morning."

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow; make sure the night shift gets the orders done, and 002 is out on mission. She shouldn't need anything, but just in case, the information about her mission is available for you if needed," he said, leaving her alone, James following him once more.

James walked a little quicker so he could walk beside Q as they headed out of the MI6 building. It was an old place that had been commandeered while their former building was torn down and rebuilt. There had been too much damage from the bomb for it just to be repaired, as most of them had hoped.

"Did you drive in?" Q asked, reaching the car park level.

"No, caught a lift." James grinned at him, heading over to Q's car. In reality, he had driven in, but he knew he would be told to go to his own car and meet him there.

"Get in." Q rolled his eyes; he could tell that Bond was lying, and not very convincingly either.

Q remained quiet throughout the drive, even though James was trying to get him to talk and to agree to a date. Q didn't know if he should say anything, so he didn't. He almost sighed in relief when they finally reached the cottage. He got out and James followed him. He unlocked the door and walked in, James right behind him as he headed to the living room.

"Alex." Clara smiled to her son standing there in the doorway.

"Mother," he greeted with a smile, walking over to her. While she had recovered a lot, she was still tired and a little weak. It would be another couple of weeks before she was back to her full strength.

"Did all go well?" she asked. There was something in her voice when she looked between the two. Tanner looked to the two of them from where he was sitting beside her.

"It went just like planned." James smiled at them, going over to one of the chairs, and sat down.

Q nodded as well as he sat down as well. "The only downside is that Mallory found out about James going off grid. Though I was able to play it off as James being James," he informed her.

"Very well." Clara looked at James. "What did you find out?"

"Not as much as we were hoping, but it might be able to lead to a few people in the end," he answered. "008 is working for them. He has been working for them for the last three years from what I was able to learn."

"For three years." Clara shook her head. A part of her didn't want to believe that an agent she had vouched for was working for the enemy. But she had known, not long after finding out, that she would be facing the betrayal of people she knew and worked with.

"Yes, it might be the case that he has worked for them for longer than that. The contact also told me that there are another two double oh agents who are working for them, though he doesn't know who they are at the moment. Agents Gavin and Agent Fields are both working for them, too. There are others, but he hasn't been able to find out who they are at the moment. He will get in contact as soon as we have established secured methods... But I don't know any more than that at the moment." He sighed, shaking his head. "It isn't a lot."

"But it is also somewhere to start," Q said. "We will have to go through the old records and see what is in his files. It might be the case that those he has talked to or been in contact with are part of this. If that is the case, then we can find out who is behind it." Q smiled a little. "I will start going through the old files as soon as I get back in. I'll start with those that are on the network. Then I think it might have to be a trip to the archives that are still in the old MI6 building."

"You are not to go there alone," Clara said straight away, looking at her son.

"I might have to," he countered. "This isn't the time to doubt me; I know what I am doing. You trained me, remember?"

Clara almost slumped in her chair and was about to say something when James cut in, "Don't worry, I'll be with him."

"Good to hear." She smiled a little towards him; she could see what Tanner had been on about when he'd arrived. "Right, dinner should be ready soon, the three of you may as well stay for it."

"In other words, she knew that we were coming and ordered the staff to make sure there was enough for all of us." Tanner smiled. Q was doing the same, knowing what his mother was like when she didn't have to keep up her work persona.

"Thank you." James nodded, glancing at Q.

Q ignored him to ask his mother, "How are you feeling now?"

"I am well." She smiled at him. "Taking longer than I wish to recover, but I will be able to help more soon."

Q nodded; there had been a moment when he had thought she was actually dead. He knew that she had been hurt badly. "I'm glad." He smiled at her, getting up. "I think I shall be outside for a while," he added, heading for the veranda.

"I think I shall join him," James said, getting up and followed him.

"You are right." Clara chuckled, watching them through the window. "Never thought I would see the day when James Bond would chase something other than a skirt. Alex would be good for him, I think."

Tanner nodded in agreement and went to join the two men outside, enjoying the cool air.

 **Thank you for the wonderful reviews. I do hope that you have enjoyed this chapter as well.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own James Bond.**

 **Thanks go to Opal, Pigfarts23 and Casttillion02 for their wonderful editing.**

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Chapter Five

Q sat at his desk. He had just finished going over the orders for the day, and now he was going to see what he could find in the old records that hadn't been put in the system. Q knew that not all of them would be on the system. They had been slowly transcribing them into the database over the last two years, but there were only three people working on it. One of those was Q, when he had a little spare time, since he had been the one to suggest the move.

"Any luck?" Tanner asked walking into Q's office and closing the door behind him.

"I've only just started. If you and James keep coming down to see me, it is going to take an age just to go through the little that is on the system," he said, glaring.

Tanner smiled. "Just wanted to see what you may have found. I know that sometimes you can work miracles," he joked a little.

Q rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to my mother; she has always believed that." He snorted.

"And who wouldn't believe her," he shot back, laughing, hearing Q begin to mumble under his breath.

Q rolled his eyes once more beginning to make a shooing motion with his hand. "Leave me be," he said.

"All right," Tanner said with an amused shake of his head begging to head out of the room, only to stop at the door. "Be warned - James is bored," he said closing the door behind him.

Q looked up and sighed. "Great, another annoyance to deal with," he muttered, wondering if there was something he could get Bond to do while he tried to get some work done. He grinned; they were going to be testing a new lock on the weapon. He already had one ready for Bond, why not let him test it and the others to see how it worked? It had already been tested, but it wouldn't hurt to get Bond to do it again to keep him out of his hair for awhile at least.

"Q," said annoyance spoke walking into the room, a grin on his face. "Lunch will be in two hours, want to come with?" he asked.

Q glared. "I am working, Bond. Why don't you make yourself useful," he began, standing up and going over to the cabinet in the room and pulled out two weapons. "These are to be tested. One is programmed for you and the other isn't; make sure that the lock on them works. And make sure yours shoots straight," he said handing them over. "Ammo is in the range for you," he added walking back to his desk.

James grinned. "Sounds like you are just trying to get rid of me," he pointed out.

Q looked insulted. "I am doing no such thing. I need a field agent to test them out," he countered.

"Hmmm hmm." He nodded. "When I'm done, I'm taking you out for lunch," he called as he walked out of the door, heading for the range.

Q went red knowing that the rest of the minions were able to hear that last remark. "Oh boy," he huffed trying to get back to going through the files, ignoring the looks that were sent his way through the window of his office.

Q went through each file with a fine tooth comb, wanting to make sure that he hadn't missed anything. He knew that the smallest thing could give them something to help their cause. Almost two hours passed, but there were only a half dozen files for the rogue agents in the system, which Q found odd. There should have at least been twenty. He would have to go to the old building and go through the archives there.

He looked up and around the room, wondering where Bond was. He knew that the man should have come back from the range by now. It wouldn't have taken him long to make sure his new gun was working fine. Q turned his laptop off and got up, stretching as he did so. He walked out of the office and into the main room of Q-Branch.

"Q," R said spotting him.

"R, take care of things for a moment. I need to have some lunch," he said, walking out of the room. He could hear them gossiping behind him. Who ever said that the secretaries had the best gossip obviously hadn't met the minions of Q-Branch.

Q headed to the firing range and stepped inside. He smiled upon hearing the rhythmic firing of the gun. Spotting James, who was the only one in the range at the moment, he walked over.

"So, what happened to lunch?" Q asked when James finished a round.

James looked a little startled looking down at his watch. "Well." He then smirked. "I think this is a turn around. I thought I would have to twist your arm to get you to agree to come with me," he said, unloading the weapon fully and putting it on the small tray on the bench.

"I think it would be all right to go now," Q said, waiting for James to finish. They walked back to Q-Branch, and Q knew it was going to fuel the gossip even more, but he needed James to go with him. And to make it look like a lunch date, well, that would just keep people from knowing what they were really doing. James handed the small tray over, Q quickly got the gun locked up in his cabinet once more, and they left the branch, with Q grabbing his messenger bag on the way.

The two were quiet until they reached James' car. "So what is that about? I know you wouldn't have agreed to lunch with me unless there was something else going on," James asked as soon as they were secured and on the way out of the car park.

"I need to go to the old building. There is barely anything on the system at all. I think some of the files were hidden. I need to find them, but to do that…" he trailed off with a wave of his hand.

"You have to go there." James nodded, beginning to head through a roundabout route. Twenty minutes later, they parked a few streets away, and with Q on his phone, linking to the CCTV in the area, he was able to get them through without them being spotted.

Q led the way through the building; some places looked as though they had gone through a war, and others looked as though nothing had happened. It was eerie. "Here," Q said going to one of the doors. "They keep the old files here," he said bringing out the electronic lock pic. The device began to work and soon enough there was a ping as the lock opened.

"Just make sure to lock it after," James said. No one had been on site, and the building was guarded constantly. It was only because they knew how to get through the outer perimeter that they have been able to reach this room.

"I'm surprised that they haven't moved or destroyed them," Q said. The two walked into the vault-like room.

"They were supposed to, but it's like they forgot half the stuff that is here," James said beginning to look around, looking for Anthony Parker, AKA Agent 008.

"Found some," Q said after half an hour. "Got at least seven files that I need to look through." He grimaced, tucking them away into his messenger bag.

"Found a couple as well," James added, handing over four files.

"Thank you," Q said as they began to make their way out of the building once more. Q locked everything behind him to make sure that it remained secure. "I think we might need to remind the higher ups to come back here," he murmured to himself.

"Might be an idea to leave it for now, as long as they don't think of the files being here, we have a resource we can get to without them knowing who we are," James pointed out.

"That is true." Q nodded, waiting for the guards to move. They darted towards the fence in a CCTV blind spot and climbed over.

"I can understand what your mother said about you," James joked, the two of them reaching his car.

"I did say she trained me as an agent, even if I never went for it." Q smiled as they got in and headed back towards the temporary MI6 building.

"Good thing then." James said, the two of them went silent once more., their thoughts going over what might be in the files that they had found.

They returned to MI6 and went to Q-Branch straight away. Heading to Q's office was annoying for Q was seeing the looks and the almost giggles from his minions. He huffed walking into his office, muttering about them all, pulling out the files he had put in his messenger bag. Closing the windows to make sure that no one was able to look in, he began to go through the files. James watched for a moment before sitting on the sofa with one of them and looking through it.

They were quiet for almost an hour going through them together. It was quicker than it would have been if Q was doing it alone. "Did you find anything?" Q asked absently, going over what he had found in his head.

"Yes," James answered. "We have two field agents that seem like likely suspects, the rest don't." He pointed out the files that they were in. "Something went wrong on the mission, and it was an easy one. It was one that they've done before, in similar places. No mention of any guards or anything that would compromise the mission. Or make it fail like it had."

"I have another double oh agent." Q sighed rubbing his eyes, pushing his glasses out of the way.

"Damn." James shook his head. "How far has this gone?"

"Not only that, but I got suspicious another file where Moneypenny was involved, before your mission with her," he added pointing to the file.

"So she really is working for them." He sighed. He had been hoping that she wasn't working for them, that there was something to redeem her in James' eyes. His gut was telling him that there was something wrong here.

"Looks like it. I'm going to show my mother what we have found. She might be able to give us more intel on these cases and tell us if we are right in them being involved in this." Q hummed putting the files into his bag once more.

"Yeah, she would be able to. She knows each of the missions." James nodded in agreement. "This time, we'll have dinner before we go," he added, giving Q a look.

"James, we don…" he began, but was cut off.

"We do; we have time to get something to eat before we see her. I'll grab Tanner and tell him to meet us there," James said, getting up.

Q watched him go and huffing, shaking his head. He logged into his servers and went through some of the data that had been sent to him from a previous mission. He knew that James would carry on asking him if he didn't go this time. And he had to admit that he was hungry.

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 **Thank you for the wonderful reviews and I do hope you have enjoyed this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own James Bond, just having some fun while I can.**

 **Sorry for taking so long, life has been kicking my behind on posting anything recently.**

 **Thanks go to Opal, Castillon02, Pigfarts23 for their fantastic editing. You guys are amazing!**

* * *

Chapter Six

Q stretched standing at the main console; he had just finished guiding 001 through the maze that was their target's vaults. It had been easy to get into the security system, but to actually do anything was a little harder, since their target had added a few false trails, which confused the target's system a little. It had annoyed the man, but he had managed it. He shut the console down and stepped away from it, R coming up behind him as he did so.

"Sir," she said, a polite smile on her face, though Q could see that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Yes, R, is there a problem?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, I think there might be. We are having trouble with the firewall again.

He sighed. "Very well." He want into his office and sat down at his desk, booting up his main laptop and logging in. He got to work to sort out the problem. He frowned. "Odd," he muttered to himself. He was glad that he was alone fixing the problem was easy. R could have done it herself. Q had a feeling that it was to distract him from something. But he had no idea what it could be. He would have to have a think when he got home; for now he was too tired, and he was beginning to get a head from all the coding he'd had to go through.

Q finished up the last of it and shut everything down. He should have left two hours ago, but that wasn't that odd for him, "R," he called out, walking through the main room of Q-Branch, "night shift has the watch now. Firewall is fine once more, though it was an easy fix." He gave her a pointed look.

"Yes sir, I thought it would be as well, though I was a little concerned that it might be something more, which was why I gave it to you to figure out," she told him, coming up with an excuse as to why she didn't do it.

"Very well." He said, leaving Q-Branch. He walked through MI6 and couldn't help but feel as though there were eyes on him. The corridors were empty now; most had gone home. He went down to the parking lot and got in his car. He shifted a little, uncomfortable feeling eyes on him once more. He didn't like it. He hoped that they would be gone by the time he reached his home. He had been hoping to go and see his mother, but that would have to wait for a while at least.

Q drove carefully home, keeping an eye out of the cars that were behind him. But he couldn't tell if there was anyone following him at all. He pulled up at the the lot for his apartment building, one that was for workers of MI6 only. So he knew that it would be more secure than most places. Q rushed to get to his apartment and entered. He was breathing heavily wondering who the hell had been watching him. He peeked through the eye hole in the door, but there was no one there.

He went into his room and pulled out his secure phone, one that no one but his mother and Tanner knew he had, and rang Tanner.

"Alex, what is it?" Tanner asked, knowing that he wouldn't use the secure phone unless there was something going on.

"I think there is someone watching me. It started while I was still in MI6 and followed me all the way home, Tanner," Q said, keeping himself calm.

"Alright, you are locked in, aren't you?" Tanner asked, wanting to make sure that he would be safe.

"Of course I am." Q snorted, as though he would forget to do such a things as that.

"Good. I'll send Bond over to stay with you." he said, wondering if the man would take it.

"That would be a fine," Q said through clenched teeth, he didn't know if he could deal with the teasing that Bond was sure to heap on him if he came. But at that moment, he wouldn't mind someone else being there with him.

"All right, he should be there soon. Just about to call him. Make sure that you keep everything locked until he gets there," Tanner told him.

"Fien," Q said ending the call with a short goodbye.

Q sat there and looked around the room. He glanced at the window in the bedroom and went and closed the curtains as he then walked through each room and did the same thing. He didn't want anyone to be able to see into his home right now. He went over to his sofa when he was done and flopped down on it; so much for a nice relaxing bath before Bond would arrive.

Q jumped, someone was knocking on his front door. He must have started to doze off. He got up and went to check through the peep hole once more, glad that he could see James. He opened the door to let him in.

"Thought I would stop by with dinner, since we still haven't gone on that dinner date," James grinned at the young quartermaster.

Q sighed and wondered what Tanner had said to him; "Of course." He smiled at him, putting on an act that he was enjoying the thought of dinner date with Bond, though to be honest, if only with himself, he wouldn't mind a proper date with James.

"Good to know, let me go and sort this out, hope you like Thai," he said, walking inside and seeking out the kitchen.

"Thank you," Q said closing the door and made sure that all the locks were shut tight.

"Is everything alright?" James asked when Q had joined him in the kitchen.

"I'm fine. Just feel a little on edge since I found out there are more in MI6 who work for those people than we previously thought," he answered honestly, watching James begin to dish out the food he had brought with him. "May I ask why you brought food?"

"Tanner said you had only just left MI6, so I doubt you have had something to eat yet." James smiled and handed him a plate. "Not only that, but Tanner suggested that we carry on looking like I am trying to date you. This way, if we are found together, we have an excuse. Though I wouldn't mind a real date at some point," he added as Q led the way into the living room.

"Fine." Q sighed; he knew that James wouldn't give up.

"Truly?" James asked. Q nodded. "Good, I'll think of something for us." He looked at Q, sitting down. James would have to talk to Clara about dating Q and make sure that he would be able to get some ideas on what Q liked, since Q kept himself to himself as much as he could.

"I know you. I've worked at MI6 for long enough to know all about your antics, Bond; I know you won't give up. So I may as well say yes, then you will be able to see that we don't suit each other at all," he said, beginning to eat, sighing a little. "Good food." He ate a little faster.

James watched him, asking, "Did you even eat today?" He hadn't been able to get down to Q-Branch that day, like normal. Dinner had gone well between them all. James had spent most of the day looking into the agents whom he knew were dirty. He had wanted to see what he could learn of them, though it hadn't been much. James didn't really interact with them on a daily basis, usually only when a mission called for it.

"No, too busy; we have three prototypes, and then there was a budget meeting as well." He hummed, swallowing another bite.

"I didn't think they would have those anymore. I thought the budget was secured for another couple of months?" James asked him.

Q shook his head. "They said that at one point. But now they believe that we are obsolete and that we are no longer needed. So I have to talk to them and get them to see that we are needed still and that we are useful in keeping this country safe."

"Right." James nodded.

Q began to pick at his food, continuing to talk about the small things that were going on around MI6 and weren't related to what they were going through.

"Feel better now that you've had something to eat?" James asked, taking the plate from Q; the younger man had barely touched his food in the end. But James didn't wish to push at the moment.

"Yes, a lot." Q grinned at him, getting up, and said, "Want something to drink?" He went over to the small drinks cabinet he had.

"Whisky, but only a small one," James said.

"Sure," Q said, pouring one for himself as well. He handed it to James when he came back into the room.

"Thank you," he said. Both of them went over to the sofa and sat down.

Q turned on the TV and went to one of the movie channels and chose an old film. "Hope you don't mind, one of my favourites," he said with a smile.

"I don't mind," James said, settling beside him. He was tempted to put an arm around him but didn't. He could see that the younger man was tense.

"It's… it's horrible to think about, isn't it," Q said after a while, leaning back on the sofa and looking at the ceiling.

"What is?" James asked, looking from the film to the man beside him.

"Not knowing who we can trust in our own organisation. Not knowing who is after us," he said, with a shake of his head. "I think we need to begin to plan what we need to do.".

"I think we do as well, but for now, we need to make sure that you are safe. If they get to you, we lose a lot," James told him.

"I don't think I can trust R anymore, I had hoped I might be able to." He sighed. That was what had really bothering him. He had hoped that the young woman would be on their side. But from what he had been seeing recently, she wasn't working with them, but against them.

"Are you sure?" James asked.

Q shook his head. "No, I can't really be sure of it either. But she keeps giving me little tasks when I know that she has the skills to do them herself if her file is to be trusted. If not, then she is a plant."

"Then I think you need to set her a task that you know that someone with her supposed skill set would be able to do," James suggested.

Q grinned. "Yes, that would work; then I would be able to know for sure," he said nodding, beginning to plan everything out.

James smiled, noting that Q was now in a world of his own.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading and I do hope you have enjoyed this chapter as well**


	7. Author Note (not abandoning just moving)

Hi all

I have no doubt that most of you have noticed that I haven't posted over here in a long time. That is mainly because I find it so hard to keep updating on two different sites (and in some cases 3). So I have taken to only updating on AO3 as it's easier for me to do so using a Chromebook, which is what I have to use for my fic writing.

Below is a link, you just have to take out the spaces to use it. That will link you to all my work, including chapters that have been updated over there for many fics, that haven't been updated here.

archiveofourown users/Duochanfan/works

I may one day get around to updating on here again, but it might not be for a long time. I have found over the last couple of years that while I love writing fics, it drains me so badly to try and edit and post them, especially with multiple sites to do so on. I will be trying to finish all the fics I have as WIP's over there, some may take longer than others. But I haven't abandoned those over there, though there are a few that I won't be finishing (The Nomad, The Saviours Wish, Time Paradox), and some that I might take a lot longer to finish because of how unsure of what I am writing (It's Not Okay is one of those).

Have to be honest, that these days if I could just write and pass everything along to someone else to edit and post I would be a very happy bunny. The only thing that does keep me writing, editing and updating are the comments and reviews that people give me, reminding me that you are out there and still reading my stories.

Thank you for all the wonderful support you have given me on here and I hope I will see some of you over on AO3, still reading the mess that are my stories.

Duochanfan


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